“[It’s] as if she’s telling me, ‘Mom! He’s here! It’s really him!’”
Lucy is an extremely sociable puppy who adores everyone she meets. She adores everyone in her family, despite the fact that she and her brother took some time to establish their groove together.
“My son is five years old and nonverbal,” Lucy’s mother, Miranda Peterson, told The Dodo. “He was formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder a few months after we adopted Lucy. For the first year of her existence, he didn’t like her. He didn’t appreciate her being in his personal space, and I believe that was too much of a shift for him.”
Lucy saw that her brother needed a little more time to warm up to her, so she became incredibly generous with his personal space. They did, however, eventually find an activity that helped them bond.
“After he ended his workweek a few months back, my husband started taking our son on a daily stroll,” Peterson said. “Because my son enjoys being outside, he had a great time.” My husband brought Lucy along as well, and it became routine after that. The three of them go for a walk regardless of the weather. My son’s regular outing helped him bond with Lucy, and now he enjoys playing fetch with her, filling her dish with food every day, and petting her.”
Lucy now enjoys spending as much time as she can outside with her brother, which included waiting for the bus every day at one point. Lucy was merely looking for another way to spend time with her brother, and that’s how she met the bus driver.
“She ran into the bus to follow her brother one day, and that’s when she met the bus driver for the first time,” Peterson recalled. “Then he’d come down a few steps from the bus every day for Lucy to welcome him.”
Peterson knew the bus driver was a great lover of pit bulls, so he was just as thrilled to meet Lucy as she was to meet him. Saying hello to the bus driver quickly became a habit for Lucy. In the morning, she walks outside with her brother, sees him off to school, and greets the bus driver. Then she waits all day for the bus to return, greeting her brother and saying hello to her favorite bus driver once more. It’s her most favorite moment of the day, and she wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Every day, Lucy enthusiastically welcomes her buddy, the bus driver, as though she’s thanking him for taking such wonderful care of her brother. Lucy appears to realize that her brother is unique in a good manner, and that anybody who looks after him as well as she does deserves all of her love and affection.
Of course, waiting all day for her brother and the bus driver to return is tedious, but Lucy isn’t bothered. She can tell when the bus is approaching close to the home at this point, and she gets giddy every time.
“She’s like a tiny alarm clock,” Peterson remarked, “letting me know when the bus is outside.” “She starts whimpering right away and stands at the door.” I usually urge her to wait until the bus driver helps my son get off (because etiquette), and as soon as I say, ‘OK,’ she rushes over to him for a short pet, then sprints back to me as if to say, ‘Mom!’ He’s arrived! ‘It’s him!’ says the narrator. She then returns for longer petting.”
Lucy’s friends and family are all extremely important to her. Even (and especially) her brother’s bus driver, she enjoys having her little rituals with all of them.